History Main / CreepyCatholicism

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling."\\

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[AsTheGoodBookSays Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.]]"]]

Creepy Catholicism embraces the description of Catholicism either as simply uncanny and dark or outright criminal and corrupt, especially if compared with other religions. This portrayal is typical of countries characterized by a Protestant majority. Once the Protestant Reformation got going, many Catholic traditions were suppressed. The sort of very bloody and gory art (crucifixes, frescoes of martyred saints, etc.) and ostentatious church decor popular among Italian, Spanish, and Latin American Catholics, for example, can be quite shocking to someone from one of the more austere Protestant sects that favor plain wooden crosses and unadorned churches.

* ''Literature/HyperionCantos'' interweaves Catholicism and Hyperion's "cruciform," parasite. Initially something of a coincidence, the combination becomes tighter as the series progresses, with the revitalized church being antagonists of the second story arc.

* Embraced by the band ''Ghost,.'' They perform in elaborate costumes based on Catholic vestments, their official logo uses an inverted cross for the T, and most of their album art is horrific riffs on Catholic imagery. This extends to their titles and contents of their songs, with their biggest hit being, "Mary on a Cross."

* ''Literature/HyperionCantos'' interweaves Catholicism and Hyperion's "cruciform," parasite. Initially something of a coincidence, the combination becomes tighter as the series progresses, with the revitalized church being antagonists of the second story arc.

* Embraced by the band ''Ghost,." They perform in elaborate costumes based on Catholic vestments, their official logo uses an inverted cross for the T, and most of their album art is horrific riffs on Catholic imagery. This extends to their titles and contents of their songs, with their biggest hit being, "Mary on a Cross."

* In The ''Literature/IRichardPlantagenetSeries'' Catholicism infuses every aspect of all the characters lives. Sometimes, it's quite a positive force, such as monasteries serving as Medieval Air B&Bs, but often it's quite eerie. Monks spy on Richard and Anne while she is in sanctuary, shrines and chapels are described in otherworldly detail and characters are perpetually praying and confessing. Even The Hedonist UsefulNotes/EdwardIV puts himself into a trancelike state while praying. Moreover, this is a world where the church has power and if you break the rules, such as committing bigamy, that matters.

[[caption-width-right:350:Amen.]]

Light and darkness play an important role in every religion. When it comes to Christianity, however, Catholicism is by far the most associated with dark elements, including [[HollywoodExorcism exorcisms]], [[SinisterMinister evil hidden behind a collar]] or more mundane ones like [[CorruptChurch corruption]] and a very controversial history (which, however, isn't uncommon when it comes to religion). Unless these things are portrayed as ''literal'' light, in which case it's all [[LightIsNotGood light]].

Creepy Catholicism embraces the description of Catholicism either as simply uncanny and dark or outright criminal and corrupt, especially if compared with other religions. This portrayal is typical of countries characterized by a Protestant majority. Once the Protestant Reformation got going, many Catholic traditions were suppressed. The sort of very bloody and gory art (crucifixes, frescoes of martyred saints, etc.) and ostentatious church decor popular among Italian, Spanish and Latin American Catholics, for example, can be quite shocking to someone from one of the more austere Protestant sects that favor plain wooden crosses and unadorned churches.

TruthInTelevision much of the time, since Catholicism retains many of the "otherworldly" traditions discarded by Protestant churches (the aforementioned Latin chanting, exorcisms, Purgatory, transubstantiation), [[NightmareFuel some of which might seem like something straight out of a horror film to non-Catholics]], especially children. That isn't to say that certain Protestants don't also have some spooky beliefs and rituals (snake-handling, speaking in tongues, the Rapture, beliefs about demons, some more exorcisms, etc.). And of course, more knowledgeable Catholics might point to UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity as being even spookier: besides keeping the same beliefs[[note]]The only significant differences between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox are whether the Pope in Rome is supposed to be the head of the Church or just first (if that) among equals among several different leaders, and an incredibly arcane dispute about whether the Holy Spirit "proceeds" from the Father alone or both the Father and the Son--and the Orthodox themselves are split on how important this latter doctrinal issue is, with those emphasizing the difference between them and the Western Church calling it all-important and fundamental and those emphasizing commonality with the Western Church considering it a mere quibble. The Oriental Orthodox churches and Churches of the East also quibble with the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholics on arcane metaphysical points of doctrine about the nature of Jesus and the Trinity that (1) appear picayune in light of the gulf between all of them and Protestantism and (2) merely confirm the otherworldliness of their orientation.[[/note]] and medieval trappings -- and ''then'' some -- you think the chanting is ominous when it's in Latin? Try it in archaic Greek, or Syriac, or Old Slavonic, or ''Coptic'' (which is ''Ancient Egyptian'' with some Greek tossed in), plus people prostrating themselves and hermits [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm going into really weird kinds of meditation.]] Catholics in general were historically also more open to science and magic (relatively, of course; one can list many heresy cases for either, after all), having an extensive number of scientists and alchemists under its name, so it is a lot easier to demonize Catholicism as demonic or "false Christian" than other Christian groups, which often tend to reject science and/or magic.

* Nightcrawler from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is a devout Catholic, but his demonic appearance is seen as scary by many, and he has an affinity for shadows, which emphasize the "dark" elements of his character. On the other hand, he had a cheerful and nice personality. The film version plays this trope straighter, by giving him a more introverted personality and self-inflicted scars as a way to atone for his sins.

* ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'': Features the self-mutilating monk Silas, a member of a heavily fictionalized version of the Catholic Opus Dei organization and one of the main antagonists. Silas himself is definitely meant to exude creepy, but Opus Dei itself is characterized as a sinister secret society in service to the Pope and a part of an AncientConspiracy. As you can imagine, this portrayal rather annoyed the RealLife Opus Dei organization, who are mostly just a lay Catholic group with no real power.
* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' averts this, despite it being very common in Victorian literature. Van Helsing is a Catholic scientist who uses his religion's iconography to fight against the powers of the night. This is remarked on by protagonist Jonathan Harker, who finds it ironic that he puts his faith in a crucifix when as a child he was taught that it was a symbol of idolatory.

* ''Brave New World'' supplement ''Covenant''. The Catholic Church has a secret group of heroes with superpowers that fight against demonic influence and other supernatural monsters.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'' is a a {{Metroidvania}} game with horror elements that draws heavily from Catholic imagery, especially its practice in Spain. The plot takes place in a morbid world that venerates guilt and pious suffering, as the result of a “Grievous Miracle” that deals out blessings and curses arbitrarily and causes sins to manifest as physical plagues and twist people into abominations.

* ''CreepyCatholicism/TheMonk''

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'': Frollo's [[VillainSong "Hellfire"]], one of the most famous {{Villain Song}}s ever, is a PrayerOfMalice in which Frollo asks the Virgin Mary to destroy Esmeralda.